I have a .300 Savage made in 1937 that has headspace problems with factory loads. The cases don't separate, but they do show lines indicating problems. Do any of you have similar problems with the older '99's? A local 'smith said a lot of the older ones had issues.

It happens but is certainly the exception and far from a rule.

How does the lever lock up on closing?

Did your 'smith check it with gauges?

My experience has been that Savage chambers can be on the long side which can be managed if you are a handloader.

I ran my 270 Titus in Savage 99 hot and it developed excess headspace. $70 repair.

Do you know what they did for 70 bucks?

I did at one time.

Thanks for sharing...

Sorry man, I didn't get a receipt when I picked up the gun and was so relieved that it was only $70 I just paid the shop and left. Felt really lucky to get out of it so cheap.

Reloading for it will help much.

Being one of the Tinkerers, I like to know the nitty gritty

My friend had some minor headspace issues with a newer 99 with a thumb safety. He took it to D&D Gunsmiths in Michigan. They cut a thread and used at 300 Savage Chamber reamer to recut the chamber. Then they had to reset the forearm lug. Turned out to be more than $70. It did get rid of the slight buldge he was getting just in front of the extraction groove. I handloaded some of my Pet Loads for him to try and it shot about 1 inch group at 100 yards. Which was an improvement over the factory loads with the old chamber. I really did not think it was worth the effort. My 99F will also produced a very slight buldge above the extraction groove with factory ammo which I don't use any more. No problems or issues with hand loads. I can get about 7 reloads out of a case before they develop neck splits. No reason to load the 300 Savage Hot! 40.6 grains of Reloder 15 with a 150 grain Sierra Pro Hunter is a 1 inch group shooter at 100 meters with many dead Michigan deer over the years. Great round for Michigan Hunting. Typical shot is about 100 yards.

I once owned a .300 Savage Model 99 that had case separation just about every other shot. Sent it back to Savage when they were still making them. They kept it six months and sent it back with the same problem after charging me quite a bit for the time. This was during one of the times right before they went belly up.

I had one that must have been fired at high pressure. The bolt would seat up to the top of the receiver, but still had sloppy forward movement. I think the top of the receiver had actually stretched out of shape.

I suppose the barrel could have been set back, but obviously something was WAY wrong. I traded it to a local smith who was going to "play with it", but I never heard the result.